


Awake O'Bartender

by aam5ever



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Barsinger fic, Bartender Ray, M/M, Singer Ryan, THIS NEEDED TO EXIST I SWEAR, Trash me but who cares amirite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 03:58:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2837231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aam5ever/pseuds/aam5ever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ray was minding his own business, wiping down messes, serving up drinks, when this... this GUY just came and stirred things up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Awake O'Bartender

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to FakeAHComics for this idea that just HAD to be written!  
> Also, the song featured is called Awake O'Sleeper by The Brothers Bright. I really liked it once I heard it, so listen to it while you read!  
> Hey look, ANOTHER one-off! I just can't stop!

The man's hands were getting tired from the constant wiping down at the bar. Yet, so many people kept spilling liquids this way and that, so he couldn't stop just yet. Ray, the bar worker, groaned when another drink was spilled thoughlessly.

"Really, Gavin?" He said to the lanky Brit who was a regular to the bar. 

Said man looked over with an apologetic look. "Sorry, lad." He gave Ray an extra five dollars. "For cleaning up after my bloody mess." 

"At least you know my language." He gladly took the money. Gavin shot him a toothy smile before talking up the girl to his left more. She had pink hair and glasses, and was taking a liking to the clumsy Brit.

Ray worked for Geoff's bar, the Let's Drink, for a while. The pay got him by and the people there were nice. The boss' wife Griffon made him awesome cookies. Jack, a security guard, always helped him out when there were rowdy men and women bothering him. Michael was the second bar worker who had a 'slight' temper, and usually took care of chasing away the rude and disrupting. His own girlfriend, Lindsay, frequently visited with jokes and smiles. With a small smile of his own, Ray began to pour another straight up scotch for a burly man who was edging his way towards a drunken coma when he saw... him.

Rugged looking with grown, dirty blonde hair in the smallest of buns, the man began to get set up on stage. Ray caught his beautiful yet piercing blue eyes, and a smirk was thrown his way, as if the man knew something he didn't. He wanted to learn everything from the man. Whoever he was, he was wearing worn down dark jeans, a tartan shirt, dress shoes, and a very handsome face. His personal cow-print microphone caught Ray's eye, and his heart skipped a beat.

So this sexy son of a bitch was a singer, too? 

"Hey, bartender!" A woman slapped the wooden bar. Great, another handprint to wipe off. "Can I have a Beach Sunrise?"

"Of course." He politely told her. He went to make the drink and watched the singer set up more with his drummer. The face was familiar to Ray, and he soon realized it was another regular, Kdin. It was an unfamiliar face on playing the guitar. Ray slid the drink to the woman once he was finished. "Here you are, ma'am."

"Thanks, doll." She winked at him. He smiled yet another polite smile that he didn't personally care for. 

His ears suddenly had the pleasure of hearing the deep voice of that certain singer on stage.

"Testing, testing..." His voice sent a chill down Ray's spine. He spun his head and was graced with the direct stare of the singer before the blue eyes swept the crowd. "Glad we have such a great crowd tonight." He had a slight southern drawl that would make girls swoon. He got a few claps out of the drunken men and women. "I'm James Haywood. I've been... performing around here. Maybe you've heard of me. Maybe not." He shrugged with a slight chuckle. "This is Awake O'Sleeper."

The drummer began the beat, the guitar following. You could tell James was getting into the spirit as the music began, since he suddenly lowered his head, listening to the music behind him and slightly swaying. Ray was hypnotized. 

"Look at this guy." Gavin whispered to Ray, amused. 

"Believe me, I am." 

James' head snapped upwards, and then he opened his mouth. "Oh Abraham would raise is hands, and mourn this very day..." Holy shit. "For his children left the promise land, in search of their own way..." He was good. "They kick and scream like wayward sons, always wanting to sleep..." God damn. "And dream away these evil days n'hopes that God can't see..." 

A few of the people watching began to sing along as James and the man on bass sang. Ray suddenly had someone in front of him, trying to talk to him as this DEMIGOD of a man was gracing all of them with his voice. 

"Hello? What the hell? I'm trying to order something here!" The man's face was annoyed.

"And I'm trying to listen!" Ray responded. The man groaned and went to Michael, the other bartender that just started his shift. 

The singer pulled his hair out of the neat bun behind his head, letting it loose. A hand ran up to his hair to mess it up and tug at it as he sang. James’ big, strong hand made a mess of it. It drove the crowd insane. It drove Ray insane. James’ eyes were lidded, and then closed tight as the powerful chorus came in. 

“Do you hear the lion roar?” His voice echoed, and it was lovely music to the bartender’s ears.

The crowd supplied the sub-chorus. “Awake O’Sleeper.”

"Stand with me, we'll fight the war."

"Awake O'Sleeper!"

It was amazing. They all really were getting into it. This man was mesmerizing. His movements, his deep yet powerful voice, the sweat forming on his brow as he kept singing... 

Ray felt a hand hitting his shoulder, and turned away from the performer to see the grinning Michael. "What, you got the hots for him?" 

"W-What?" He weakly replied. 

The other bartender laughed. "You basically have fucking hearts in your eyes."

Ray rolled them. "Oh, shut the fuck up. He's just... just good, is all." He was such an obvious dipshit, but he didn't care. Michael only sighed and went back to work, and Ray noticed that basically every customer went To Michael. Maybe he wasn't the most responsive at the moment. Hopefully, Geoff would be understanding.

Hopefully.

James now gripped the designed mic with both hands, stamping his foot in time with the drums as he sung. It was the low, resonating tone of his voice that made the bartender's hair on the back of his neck stand up. "Let no man bring me harm, I bear the marks of Jesus..." Boy, Ray could believe that. He surely looked heavenly. "Let no man bring me harm, I bear the marks of the lord..."

There was a small beat of silence in which James stared directly at Ray before belting out the following lyrics. "I said, let no man bring me harm, I bear the marks of Jesus! Let no man bring me harm, 'cause I bear the marks of God!" He ran his hand again through his already messy hair. "Do you hear the lion roar?"

"Awake O'Sleeper!"

"Stand with me, we'll fight the war!"

"Awake O'Sleeper!"

When the song finished, the crowd clinked glasses with a mighty cheer. To his right, Ray saw Gavin and the woman he was talking to cheer as well. James was breathing heavily on stage, eyes now a bit more alive than before. He began to smirk as he spoke again.

"Well," He pushed a strand of hair out of his face. "this was one of the liveliest crowds I've had." The singer's voice sounded a bit weaker than before, yet it was still attractive, if not more. "We'll be playing at Burns' Bar next Friday, if you feel like listening to us again. Have a good night, everyone." And then he began to pack up as everyone turned back to their drinks and the regular classic bar music played from the overhead speakers.

But Ray just couldn't tear his pupils away from James Haywood.

Michael, again, nudged him as he was cleaning a glass. "Hey, bonerpants, go fucking talk to him before you implode." He laughed a the glare thrown his way.

"I'm not going to talk to him! I don't need to!" Ray furiously whispered so nobody would hear them.

"You sure you don't need to?" Michael glanced away and then back at him. 

"Michael, shut the fuck up, would you?" He groaned. "Go fucking do work." 

"You would've kicked me in the throat if I told you to do that while James was singing." Michael then smirked. "He might appreciate it, you know."

Ray's brow furrowed. "What? What do you mean?"

"You know, I actually would appreciate it."

Ray jumped, scared at the sudden new presence in the conversation. Michael's laugh combined with the terrified look in the other man's eyes made the singer chuckle too. "Sorry, I tend to scare people a lot."

"You don't say?" Was Michael's only input before he was called over by a customer. 

"H-hi..." Wow, Ray was an idiot. A stupid moron idiot fucking-

"Hey." James took a seat at the bar, leaning his elbows on the counter. "How'd you like the show?"

The bartender instinctively picked up his rag and began to wipe down nonexistent watermarks and spills. "It was pretty damn good. I was pretty busy working, though, so I didn't really get to fully listen to all of it." What a dirty, dirty lie.

James looked at Ray straight in the irises. He obviously knew that wasn't true, but didn't say a word about it. "Oh, that's a shame." He calmly put a hand over the Hispanic's that was manically rubbing down the counter. It stopped immediately. "I'd love if you could... you know, get to hear all of it."

"Well, you can't turn back time." Ray shrugged with a very weak laugh that became deceased in his throat when James leaned in more.

"But you can make a future." Hot damn, what was this man doing to him? "I was hoping I could take you to that upcoming show I have... at Burns' Bar." He looked down at the man's hand as he traced the skin on it with a finger. It sent tingles up the man's arm. 

Ray could've fainted right then and there. Instead, he pulled his hand away, causing the singer to look up. "Alright, Mr.FlirtatiousBastard. I'll let you take me." He tried to not seem like yes, his dreams were coming motherfucking true. "I can't drive there, though..."

"Perfect." He smiled wholeheartedly. "A proper date has one picking up the other."

Holy shit, he said date.

"Great, then." Ray smiled at him. "It would be nice if you at least new my name first. Ray Narvaez Jr." He fixed the nametag he already had on to prove his identity. "I already know you're-"

"Ryan Haywood." Wow, that was a curveball. "James is my real name, but I prefer my middle name, Ryan."

"Then why do you use the name James?" 

"You'll find that out on our date on Friday."

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: aam5ever  
> Message me some prompts, why don't you?


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